Notre Dame women's basketball: Looks can be deceiving

January 12, 2013|By CURT RALLO | South Bend Tribune

There is a flower named “Shooting Star.”

Petite looking, packs a lethal punch.Meet Notre Dame freshman shooting star Jewell Loyd.Petite looking, packs a lethal punch.“She’s so sweet,” Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw said in describing Loyd, a 5-foot-10 guard. “She is so nice, just so sweet.”Then, McGraw thought of the lethal shooter and aggressive board crasher that lurks within the looks-can-be-deceiving Loyd, and chuckled.“You’re fooled by her demeanor,” McGraw said. “You see her smile. She looks so unassuming, and then her competitiveness takes over. She’s deceiving. She looks slender, but it’s a mistake if you don’t think she’s physical. She’s quick and strong, which is a lethal combination.”Loyd and the No. 2-ranked Irish hope to stay unbeaten in Big East Conference play when Rutgers arrives for a 3:30 p.m. game on Sunday (ESPNU). Notre Dame is 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big East, surviving a pair of road thrillers against No. 1 Connecticut and a tough South Florida team. Rutgers (9-6, 0-2) is desperate to avoid its first 0-3 start in Big East play.Behind Loyd’s smile is an assassin ready to pull the trigger. The Lincolnwood, Ill., native averages 13 points and 5.7 rebounds a game. She may not look like the type to mash inside with the taller, more physical players, but that’s the first place she heads when a rebound is up for grabs.“I grew up with all guys,” Loyd said. “They’re my best friends. Every weekend, we would play tackle football. We still play to this day. It was very competitive. I’d play receiver. I have good hands and was able to catch the ball.“They wouldn’t take it easy on me. That’s how it should be. If you play with the big guys, you should get hit. That prepared me for now. I’m not scared of anything.”McGraw said that Loyd’s playground football background will suit her well against a Rutgers club known for physical play.“I think Jewell is fearless,” McGraw said. “I think she is very determined. I think each day she gets better and continues to improve. I thought she was a defensive standout for us in South Florida. I definitely see that fearlessness, defensively, the way she attacks the basket, rebounding.“Playing fearless is critical for us. I think we could all be even more physical and work on some things that I think we could be a lot better at. We’re going to need to be fearless on Sunday, because Rutgers is such a great athletic team.”Loyd said that she loves the contact. She showed that when she stood her ground and took a charge from Connecticut’s 6-foot-4 center Breanna Stewart, a critical play in the final minutes of Notre Dame’s upset of the then-No. 1 Huskies.“Obviously, it’s physical,” Loyd said of the college game. “Knowing that you’re going to get contact, that you might not get calls, you have to learn to stay strong mentally. That’s a big deal. You can’t shut down.“I like to get in there and bang with the big guys. In high school, I got banged up. That’s not a problem at all. I don’t mind contact.”Loyd has stepped up for the Irish in some of the biggest games of the season. She led the Irish with 24 points in a loss to No. 1 Baylor. Her 19 points were critical in the Irish victory at UCLA. She scored 15 points against No. 22 Texas A&M, and 10 points against UConn. Loyd helped the Irish avoid the upset in South Florida with 18 points.

“I think Jewell is very mentally strong, but I think playing with Natalie Achonwa, Skylar Diggins and Kayla McBride ... she doesn’t have to be the one,” McGraw said. “There’s no pressure on her, and yet she’s free to play her game. I think it’s a great situation that she’s in, and she’s really taken advantage of it, and she’s doing everything she can to help the team win.”Loyd said that she isn’t fazed by the leap from high school competition to playing No. 1 teams in the college game.“I just go out and play,” said Loyd, who credited Irish coaches and teammates for instilling confidence in her. “I don’t care about the name on the jersey. I feel like, sometimes, other teams are so focused on Skylar (Diggins), K-Mac (Kayla McBride) and Natalie (Achonwa), that they forget about me. I get open looks.“You always want to look for your shot and look for places where you can score, but you have to see how the game is going. In our offense, there are so many opportunities for everyone to score. We do a great job of running our sets and making sure people get their shots. I’ve never been a selfish player. I’ve always looked to pass first and shoot second. But the way our offense is and the way our team is so unselfish, I’ve been able to get good shots.”Staff writer Curt Rallo:crallo@sbtinfo.com574-235-6152